The home of George Ruffin Bridgeforth on Brownsferry Street. 

I am one of those citizens who is proud to be from the quaint little historic town of Athens, Alabama. Throughout my years in the military, whenever someone asked me where I was from, I always said Athens. Some claimed to be from larger cities, like Huntsville or Birmingham, but I always claimed Athens.

I am impressed by the quietness, but also by the history, of our town.

Judge James E. Horton, famed for his role in the Scottsboro Boys trial, is from here, and a statue at the courthouse attests to that. An 1862 civil war battle involving a Russian-born general occurred in Athens, and a historic marker on The Square attests to that.

Each historic artifact is a beacon for tourism, and tourism places money in the city’s coffers which in turn benefits all of us.

I also think there is a part of the city that’s ripe for historic development that we have not developed. That part is Historic Brownsferry Street.

Running east and west, leading from U.S. 72 to uptown Athens, Brownsferry Street is home to some of Athens’ most historic churches, iconic dwellings and home sites of accomplished persons.

The street is anchored on the east by Trinity Congregational Church and co-anchored by the home of college president George Ruffin Bridgeforth and historic Trinity School.

On the west, it is anchored by the 139-year-old Antioch Cumberland Church and the home site of Jackson (Mississippi) Advocate owner and publisher Charles Tisdale.

In between these anchors are the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the home sites of Patti Malone, Fisk Jubilee singer; Judge R. Eugene Pincham, who served in the Cook County, Illinois, Circuit Court and the Appellate Court of Illinois; James C. Watkins, a Fulbright scholar and well-known ceramic artist; and Dr. Oliver Sheffield, co-founder of County College of Morris in New Jersey.

Furthermore, directly off Brownsferry Street and on the campus of Trinity School, is a portion of the 1862 trench dug by Union Army Soldiers that fortified Fort Henderson and is the place where two Civil War battles occurred.

I urge our city administration to fully fund the development of Historic Brownsferry Row, which will increase funding for an already viable tourism industry and will promote the historic development of the city.